As anyone familiar with the Alabama author knows, she also has refused to so much as talk about the book for the bulk of that five-decade stretch -- although not always quite so politely. Written requests for interviews, as legend has it, have on occasion been returned with two words scrawled across the top that are hard not to appreciate for their directness: "Hell no."

But, as they say, absence makes the heart grow fonder, so none of that has lessened America's love for Lee's one and only novel -- which spawned what is arguably the greatest book-to-movie adaptation in Hollywood history (a movie that earned an Oscar for actor Gregory Peck in 1963). In fact, it seems as if that sense of mystery and subsequent longing has only deepened America's affection for Lee and her book.

In short, "To Kill a Mockingbird" -- about a young Alabama girl's reflections on her lawyer father's defense of a black man accused of raping a white woman -- is a book that endures in the hearts and minds of countless Americans. It's that remarkable connection that director Mary McDonagh Murphy explores in her affectionate documentary "Hey, Boo: Harper Lee and 'To Kill a Mockingbird,' " playing at 7:30 p.m. daily through Thursday (May 19) at the Zeitgeist Multi-Disciplinary Arts Center.

Although Murphy diligently sets out to tell the story behind Lee's story, this isn't a movie awash in earth-shattering new details on the book or on its creator. To get directly to the point: Murphy does not land the coveted holy grail interview -- that is, one with Lee -- that would make any such film an absolute, no-questions-asked must-see.

She gets what is arguably the next best thing, though: She interviews people who knew Lee back before she was a literary icon, when she was still Nell Harper Lee, airline ticketing agent. Included are chats with Lee's sister, Alice Finch Lee, as well as with Lee's longtime friends Joy and Michael Brown, whose generosity and confidence in Lee made it possible for her to quit her airline gig and focus on creating a literary classic.

Time Life Pictures/Getty Images'To Kill a Mockingbird' author Harper Lee, as seen in a photo used in the documentary 'Hey, Boo.'

Along the way we get insights into the origins of the novel, as well as family photos of Lee at the time -- staring out sweetly but sternly and with a face that, despite her determination to lay low, is one that feels oddly but distinctly familiar. (Yes, she's a Pulitzer Prize winner, but she also looks like your distant aunt, like the waitress last night, like the nun who taught you in second grade.)

Even if "Hey, Boo" falls short as a piece of revelatory filmmaking, it succeeds nicely as a love letter to Lee's novel and as a concise explainer on why it has resonated so deeply all these years later. Helping in that regard are a number of notable American thinkers -- Tom Brokaw, Wally Lamb, Oprah Winfrey, James Patterson -- who share their reflections on Lee's book and discuss its place in America's library. (Perhaps the most compelling: Winfrey's recalling of a conversation she had with Lee in which the author told her who the real Boo Radley is.)

Between their impassioned words and Murphy's own affectionate touches, "Hey, Boo" does Lee's book justice, and then it does something more: It makes you want to dig out the old dog-eared copy of "To Kill a Mockingbird" you've had since high school and discover it all over again.

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HEY, BOO: HARPER LEE AND 'TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD'3 stars, out of 4

Snapshot: A documentary film examining the origins and legacy of Harper Lee's great American novel.

What works: It's a wholly embraceable love letter to Lee's book, as it explains exactly why it is so enduring and so beloved by so many readers.